A Florida divorce can be put on hold anywhere from a few weeks to several years, depending on why the pause is needed. The most common type, a reconciliation hold, is capped by statute at three months. A pause tied to a spouse’s active military duty can last the length of the deployment plus 90 days after discharge. A bankruptcy filing can freeze the property-division portion of the case for months or more than a year. There is no single answer to how long a divorce can be put on hold in Florida; the ceiling is set by the reason for the pause.
Reconciliation Holds Cap at Three Months
Under Florida Statute 61.052, a judge can continue divorce proceedings for a “reasonable length of time not to exceed 3 months” to give the couple a chance to attempt reconciliation.1Florida Senate. Florida Code Title VI Chapter 61 – Section 61.052 – Dissolution of Marriage The court can also order one or both spouses to attend counseling during that window with a therapist, clergy member, or other qualified professional.
There is a limitation that catches many people off guard. The statute only authorizes a reconciliation hold in two situations: when the couple has a minor child, or when the spouse who did not file for divorce contests in their answer that the marriage is irretrievably broken.1Florida Senate. Florida Code Title VI Chapter 61 – Section 61.052 – Dissolution of Marriage If neither applies, the court lacks a clear statutory basis for this kind of pause. And no matter what stay is in place, if the judge becomes convinced the marriage is irretrievably broken, the court can enter a dissolution judgment and end the case.
Three months is not much time. Couples who genuinely want to reconcile should start counseling immediately rather than treat the hold as breathing room. Once the window closes, the divorce moves forward whether reconciliation worked or not.
Military Service Holds Under the SCRA
Active-duty servicemembers have far stronger protections. The federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act requires courts to pause civil proceedings, including divorce, for at least 90 days when a servicemember’s military duties prevent meaningful participation.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 3932 – Stay of Proceedings When Servicemember Has Notice The court has no discretion to deny the stay if the servicemember submits two required items: a statement explaining how current duties interfere with the ability to appear, and a letter from the commanding officer confirming that military leave is not available.
The initial 90 days is the floor, not the ceiling. A servicemember can request additional stays, and the court can grant extensions to cover a longer deployment. A separate SCRA provision allows any stay of execution of a judgment to last for the servicemember’s entire period of military service plus 90 days after discharge.3United States Courts. Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) In practical terms, a divorce involving a deployed spouse can be paused for years.
Bankruptcy Freezes Property Division, Not the Whole Case
When one spouse files for bankruptcy, a federal automatic stay kicks in immediately, but it does not freeze the entire divorce. Federal law explicitly allows the dissolution itself, child custody, child support, and alimony proceedings to move forward.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 362 – Automatic Stay What does freeze is any part of the divorce that involves dividing property belonging to the bankruptcy estate.
The Florida court can dissolve the marriage and settle custody, but it cannot touch the house, retirement accounts, or other marital assets until the bankruptcy court lifts the stay or the bankruptcy case concludes. Depending on the complexity of the bankruptcy, the property-division freeze can last from a few months to well over a year. The non-filing spouse can ask the bankruptcy court to lift the stay for cause, but there is no guarantee the request will be granted.
Illness and Overlapping Legal Proceedings
Florida judges also have broad discretion to pause proceedings when circumstances genuinely prevent a fair process. If one spouse has a serious illness that makes it impossible to participate in hearings, respond to discovery, or consult with an attorney, the court can grant a temporary stay. These holds have no fixed statutory limit. The judge weighs the severity of the situation and typically sets a review date rather than an open-ended pause.
A hold may also be appropriate when another legal proceeding overlaps with the divorce. If a pending criminal case involves facts central to custody, for example, a judge might pause parts of the divorce to avoid conflicting rulings or protect a spouse’s Fifth Amendment rights. These stays are decided case by case, and the judge can modify or lift them at any time.
Getting the Hold on the Record
Pausing a divorce requires a formal written request to the court, usually called a Motion to Stay or Motion for Abatement. The motion must state the specific legal basis (reconciliation, military service, or another qualifying reason) and be served on the other spouse. If both spouses want the hold, a joint motion is routine and judges almost always grant it. If only one spouse wants it, the judge holds a hearing and decides whether to grant the stay, for how long, and with what conditions. Even a granted stay may carve out exceptions so urgent matters like temporary child support can still move.
The 10-Month Dismissal Trap
This is where most couples who pause a divorce get burned. Florida Family Law Rule of Procedure 12.420(d) allows a court to dismiss a divorce case for lack of prosecution if nothing happens on the record for 10 months. Once that window of silence passes, the court, the clerk, or an unrelated party can serve a notice warning of dismissal. If no record activity occurs within 60 days after that notice, the court dismisses the case.
The protection is narrow: if the court has entered an actual order staying the case, the inactivity clock stops. An informal handshake between spouses to “just wait” does not stop the clock. Skip the motion and the court order, and the 10-month countdown keeps running while you think the case is safely paused. A dismissal means starting over with a new petition and a new filing fee of roughly $409.
Even with a formal stay in place, calendar a reminder before the stay expires. If it lapses and no one files anything, the inactivity clock restarts from the day the stay ended.
What Keeps Running While the Case Is Paused
A hold freezes forward progress on the case; it does not erase what has already happened. Temporary orders for child support, spousal support, or custody remain fully enforceable. Violating a temporary order during a stay carries the same consequences as violating one during active litigation.
Florida also imposes an automatic temporary injunction when a divorce is filed that restricts both spouses from hiding or wasting marital assets. That injunction stays in effect the entire time the case is open, including any pause. Neither spouse can sell property, drain accounts, or cancel insurance policies in violation of it just because the case is on hold.
Taxes
You are still legally married while the case is paused. Your tax filing status depends on whether you are married or divorced on December 31 of the tax year, not on whether a case is pending.5Internal Revenue Service. IRS Releases Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2026 Married-filing-separately status locks you out of several valuable benefits, including education credits, the earned income credit, and the student loan interest deduction. If the pause pushes past year-end, a joint return may make more financial sense, which requires both spouses to agree.
Joint Debt Keeps Growing
Every month the divorce stays on hold, joint financial obligations continue accumulating. If both spouses are on a mortgage, both remain liable. Joint credit card debt keeps growing. Neither spouse can force a sale of marital property or a division of retirement accounts until the case resumes and reaches a final judgment. For couples carrying significant joint debt, a long pause can make the eventual property division worse for both sides.
Restarting the Case
When the reason for the hold ends, the case does not always restart on its own. If the court order specified an end date, such as a 90-day reconciliation period, the case resumes when that date arrives. Otherwise, one spouse needs to file a Motion to Lift Stay telling the court the circumstances that justified the pause no longer exist. Once filed and served, the court issues an order reactivating the case.
The divorce picks up where it left off. Prior filings, temporary orders, and discovery all remain valid. No final judgment can be entered until at least 20 days have passed since the original petition was filed, a waiting period that will have long since run in any paused case.6Online Sunshine. Florida Statutes 61.19 – Entry of Judgment of Dissolution of Marriage, Delay Period If you reconcile during the hold and decide not to go forward, you can file a voluntary dismissal instead, which closes the case entirely.